Who Was Naba Kishore Das, Odisha Minister With Over 140 Cars Shot Dead Today?

Naba Kishore started his political journey as a student leader and was immediately involved with Congress.

Odisha's Health and Family Welfare minister Naba Kishore Das.

In a shocking tragedy, Odisha's Health and Family Welfare minister Naba Kishore Das, who was shot at in chest, died in the hospital on Sunday. He was critically injured after being shot in the chest in the Brajarajnagar area of Jharsuguda district.

Expressing condolence over the minister’s death, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said, “He was an asset for both the Govt and the party. His death is a great loss to the State of Odisha.”

The incident took place at Brajrajnagar, Jharsuguda district, as the minister was on his way to an event at Gandhi Chowk. Sources said that assistant sub-inspector of Police (ASI) Gopal Das allegedly shot at Das as he was getting out of his automobile.

Who Was Naba Kishore Das? 

Naba Kishore started his political journey as a student leader and was immediately involved with Congress. Das became the student leader of the "Grand Old Party" while studying at a college in Sambalpur in the 1980s.

After nearly three decades with the Congress, he joined the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which is also the ruling party in Odisha.

Naba Kishore Das, a three-time legislative of the Jharsuguda Assembly, is regarded as a powerful figure in the area. For the first time, he stood for office under the banner of the Congress Party.

But he came up short in the election. He contested the 2009 assembly elections once more from Congress and prevailed. He won both the 2014 assembly election and the 2019 elections, making him the region's MLA for the third time in a row. He was holding the position of health minister in the Odisha government under Naveen Patnaik.

After giving a golden urn worth Rs. 1 crore to a temple in Maharashtra, Naba garnered widespread media attention. According to reports, Das donated an urn containing 1.7 kg of gold and 5 kg of silver to one of the nation's most well-known Shani temples, the Shani Shingnapur temple in Maharashtra.

Das, a law graduate, established successful enterprises in the mining and transportation industries.

Das has disclosed movable and immovable assets totaling Rs 34 crore just before the 2019 assembly election, according to Myneta. One of them was a fleet of 145 automobiles, worth 15 crore, of which 80 belonged to him and 65 to his wife Minati Das.

Das responded when asked about his possessions: "My family owns multiple enterprises. My son is a businessman as well. Everybody pays income tax. What's wrong about having several cars?"

Three legal firearms—a 12-bore gun, a double-barreled rifle, and a.32 revolver—were also listed among his reported possessions.

In addition, he identified other homes valued more than Rs 2.28 crore in New Delhi, Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, Jharsuguda, and Rairakhol in Odisha.